These
horns began the SML saxophone dynasty: essentially a Selmer
Super crossed with a Buffet.
Disregard Marigaux
horns produced before the 1930's: these were not produced
by SML.
Tech
notes:
- These horns may have one or more "Star
of David"-type (six-pointed star) patterns engraved on
the bell in addition to "Strasser, Marigaux and Lemaire."
There are generally two. There has been a bunch of speculation
about why these stars are engraved on the logo, but no one
has come up with a convincing answer -- especially since there
are other French-made horns of the same era with the same
stars.
The
modern SML company just doesn't know (no, the founders of
SML weren't Jewish and weren't required by the Germans to
affix these stars -- as had been a popular theory).
- These horns had bell keys on the LEFT side of the horn (soprano
excluded).
- Note that these horns generally lack a front altissimo F
key, except on some special models.
- The "prototype" horns pictured here, most contributed
by Fred Cicetti, do not have serial numbers.
- See also the SML Model Comparision
Chart.
- While I have not seen a Rev. A baritone, that doesn't mean
they don't exist -- but I'd say it's probable there aren't
any.
SML never made basses.
- While I have not seen a Rev. A, Rev. B, Super (up to the
49) or Coleman Hawkins in lacquer finish, that doesn't mean
they don't exist -- but I'd say it's probable there aren't
any.
==========
Model
Names:
Most of the "production" SML horns had model names
engraved on their bells -- I've seen "AW2", "Alliance",
"Primax" and several others. My working theory is
that each "model" was created by a specific team
of craftsmen, very much like the Martin Handcraft. Unlike
the Handcraft, which sometimes just had the name of the engraver/foreman
on the horn, these horns were assigned a full "model"
name.
Whatever
the reason, the odd model name keeps popping up until sometime
in the Rev. C era and then just stops.
However,
no matter the engraving, all the horns seem to share the same
basic feature set, so I don't see a need to (say) give an
"Alliance" it's own model subset -- especially as
newer horns sometimes carried the model name across "Revision"
lines.
==========
Errata:
I've
been doing a bit of research on this series of horns and I've
come up with a couple of conjectures:
* While each of the Rev. A horns that I've seen have slightly
different keywork and probably have slightly different bore
size, but they all have bell keys on the left hand side of
the horn (as you're playing). That definitely differentiates
the Rev A and B horns.
* The older SML's have
a different lower G#/C#/B/Bb cluster than the newer ones,
a cluster that looks kinda like a Buescher or Conn of approximately
the same era. Disregarding the prototype horns, this "Buescher-style"
key cluster was used, with a few variations, up until the
Super transitional horns.
* An occasional few Rev. A's do have rolled tone holes, but
this does not appear to be the norm (a 2355 horn was spotted
by Rick Mussi, engaved "Modele Standard". There
are also notes of a gold-plated rolled-tone-hole 2xxx tenor
HERE).
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